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Sunday, August 29, 2010

On the occasion of the 100 Cities Around the World Against Stoning protests, 22-year old Sajjad Ghaderzadeh, Sakineh Ashtiani’s son, made a direct call to Mina Ahadi, the spokesperson for the International Committee Against Stoning (ICAS) and the International Committee Against Execution (ICAE). In his call, Sajjad addressed the crowd at the demonstration and thanked the world for their support. He said that the Islamic Republic regime was telling lies about their mother's guilt, and had ransacked her lawyer's office at his home and stole documents relevant to her case. It should be recognized that reaching out to the world in this manner and speaking against the regime puts Sajjad at grave risk of retribution by the regime.
The English translation of Sajjad's message is as follows:
"Greetings to all you who are participating in our mother’s demonstration and are carrying placards and her pictures. I would like to say that we love you all very much, and I sincerely thank you for your generous, kind attention. I also want to say that the official statement issued minutes ago by the Human Rights of the Judiciary concerning our mother’s case is totally false. We have found out that my mother’s murder file [that is, the case in which someone else had confessed to murdering Sakineh’s husband] is now missing. The Islamic Republic has been tampering with the file. Also, I’m sad to say, they raided the house of Mr. Kian, our lawyer, sometime this week and took all of our mother’s documents in his office. They also took his laptop computer and some other items of his belongings. [Or] they go to our mother, beat her, and then say to her: you must come on television and say these things. We want the whole world to help us in this ordeal. The lives of all those who are supporting us in Iran, such as Mr. Kian, our lawyer, are in danger. I thank you all, once again."
Two points in Sajjad’s call demand further clarification and emphasis: 1- The statement by the ‘Human Rights of the Judiciary’ he refers to is an official Statement issued by the High Council of Human Rights of the Judiciary of the Islamic Republic of Iran on August 28 (http://irna.com/html/1389/13890606/216498.htm). The statement, obviously issued under international pressure, and on the same day that the 100 Cities Around the World Against Stoning global protest was being held, starts off by complaining about ‘the taking position of the authorities [of other countries], international bodies, and some state and non-state media on the legal and judicial matters of countries,’ and goes on to catalogue a whole host of lies about Sakineh Ashtiani and the previous process of reviewing her case. What Sajjad said about his mother’s now-missing murder charge file, stealing the documents relevant to her case from her lawyer’s home, and the regime’s tampering with the case is, indeed, alarming. These developments clearly point to the regime’s efforts to fabricate a new case against Sakineh instead of ‘carefully reviewing’ the same old one, which it has kept the world waiting for. 2- Sajjad’s brave warning of the dangers threatening those supporting Sakineh and her family in Iran, such as their lawyer, Hootan Kian, should be emphasized and taken very seriously.
ICAS, ICAE, Mission Free Iran, and Iran Solidarity hereby bring the above life-threatening new developments to the attention of the governments as well as the people of world, and pledge to continue campaigning until the regime’s new plots have been thwarted.

International Committee Against Stoning (www.stopstonning.com)
International Committee Against Execution (www.notonemoreexecution.org)
August 29, 2010

Video and translation provided by PR for Personal Rights.
Video disseminated by http://missionfreeiran.org for the Campaign to Save Sakineh Ashtiani.